April 19, 2013

A former Sacramento police officer was sentenced today to one year in jail for falsifying drunken driving reports and lying at a state Department of Motor Vehicles administrative hearing.

Brandon Michael Mullock, 27, was sentenced to five years in prison, but Judge Patrick Marlette suspended that sentence and instead ordered that Mullock serve one year in county jail in order to get five years of probation. If he violates the terms of his probation, he will be forced to serve the prison sentence.

Mullock was taken into custody at the conclusion of this morning's hearings as his family members wept in the audience.

In March, Mullock entered no-contest pleas on four felony charges.

Authorities began their investigation into Mullock after defense attorneys in drunken driving cases reported in 2010 that some of the visuals taken from the officer's in-car patrol videos did not match up with the written reports he prepared.

Defense lawyers also complained that some of the testimony Mullock gave at DMV driver's license revocation hearings strayed from the video evidence.

As a result of the discrepancies, prosecutors were forced to dismiss 79 cases involving Mullock, District Attorney Jan Scully told reporters at a May 2011 news conference, before criminal charges were filed against Mullock in the case.

The DA's Office already had obtained convictions in 73 of those cases before it was forced to dump them, according to prosecutors.

At today's sentencing, Judge Patrick Marlette said that he was particularly disturbed by how Mullock's actions threatened the integrity of the criminal justice system and violated due process of the accused.

Mullock's lawyers argued that their client didn't act with malice. They said his intentions were good: he wanted drunken drivers off the streets. Mullock, they noted, was remorseful for his actions.

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